The Mallet of Loving Correction

John Scalzi is now a successful and well-known science fiction author. But for many readers he first became famous for his blog, “Whatever.” Founded back in 1998, “Whatever” (at scalzi.com) is now one of the most read personal blogs on the Internet, with over eight million views in 2012. It has become a true community, with post comments often numbering in the hundreds. Scalzi serialized his first novel on “Whatever,” and afterward received a publishing contract from science fiction publisher Tor Books.

The Mallet of Loving Correction is a selection of posts from “Whatever,” organized in alphabetical rather than chronological order, from the years 2008-2012. It’s the third in the series of collected writings from “Whatever”; the second collection won a Hugo Award in 2009.

Scalzi is thoughtful, witty, and occasionally profane, and he pulls no punches. It’s an impressive feat that so many of these essays retain such liveliness despite the passage of time and their movement to a book form sans links and reader comments. This book is probably only a must-buy for the Scalzi über-fan, but it is an entertaining and thought-provoking read.